On a spectacular day, like May 1st, for example, you’ll find it chock-full of tourists and locals looking for a little bella vista and a break from city life. Bellagio is a popular stop for motorcyclists and they have an entire parking lot dedicated to scooters, Ducati and Hondas!

But once you get to Bellagio, you’ll probably notice something: everyone else is there, too. It’s incredibly popular on a beautiful day. The small streets creep up like little vines away from the flat city “center” near the docks. But if you’re not in a climbing mood, you can walk down a kilometer or so along the water away from the docks until you get to the entrance of the Villa Melzi Gardens.

Villa Melzi’s gardens are considered more proper “English” gardens rather than Italian-styled gardens. There are a lot of different species and influences in the garden, however, like this Oriental-style garden spot.

The grass is meticulously trimmed and kept, with several reminders to “stay off” it. There are benches and places to stop and enjoy the beauty, though.

It’s only fair since I featured my dad in the Guinness post that I feature my other Dad in this one. Yes, I have two Dads (and a Mom), very California of me, no? Those are the Alps there in the distance.

Here some paths take you from the higher-ground paths behind the villa to the waterfront paths.

An iron gondola.

Make sure to take the “high” road behind the villa and the bamboo forest on the way back and get some spectacular views. I would share mine, but my camera battery died so they’re all in my head.

You can get to Bellagio several ways, the easiest being by fast ferry (traghetto) from Como city if you’re coming from Milan. The short trip takes about 50 minutes one way. The long ferry takes about 2 hours one way.

Giardini di Villa Melzi – Villa Melzi Gardens
http://www.giardinidivillamelzi.it
Tickets are 6 euro each. George Clooney not included in ticket price.

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Related Articles at Ms. Adventures in Italy:

• A Quick Weekend in Milan and Lake Como
• Praline Almond, Pistachio and Chocolate Chip Blondies Recipe
• Roman Holiday

On a absolutely breathtaking sunny day, we headed out of Milan by car to the Province of Lecco, and to a regional park named Monte Barro. This park is also an archaeological site and protected area as it has some late Roman empire ruins, in the Parco Archeologico dei Piani di Barra, just below the picnic area.

Two asides: The DMBLGIT galleries are now complete with this month’s entries. Why not give Page 1 and Page 2 of the gallery a look? I also updated Snapshots of Italy with what I believe to be the picture of the world’s smallest car (and no, it’s not a Smart Car).

The park is relatively simple, with the main attraction being Mother Nature and some incredible views. There are also free-access barbecue pits which make it a great place to come with friends for a picnic lunch.

Afterward, you can lay down and look up at the trees and the impossibly green leaves while digesting. You can do this all afternoon, or if you feel up to it, go hiking on the numerous trails and paved roads up and down the mountain. Your butt will thank you (as mine still is).

After a brief disco nap, you can head down to see the first of many breathtaking views – here is the Lago di Annone (closest), and further out, the Lago di Pusiano. Heading down from this overlook, there are the Piani di Barra ruins mentioned above.

We decided to head higher than the picnic area, mostly because of parking availability, but I am so glad we did. We stumbled on an even more spectacular view of Lago di Como and the city of Lecco (opposite shore) and Malgrate below. I walked along a narrow path on the side of the mountain, and the wind was so fierce, it pushed me back against the slope. Luckily it wasn’t going in the other direction as there were no handrails and there was a straight drop ahead of me. But it was exhilarating and I stood there for some time until a father and daughter came down the path and stopped to stare at me. Perhaps they thought I might jump!

I walked around alone for a while, just enjoying the fresh air and the mountains that I didn’t know I missed until I was surrounded by green. The Monte Barro park is also protected due to its botanical diversity, and according to the website, “is the protected area in Lombardy with the greatest flora diversity.” I definitely saw some wildflowers I hadn’t seen before, and some large ants everywhere.

We stayed all day, until the sun started to hide and the reflection on the lakes was blinding. Here you can see the furthest lake out, Lago di Alserio. If you go even higher on Monte Barro, you will see the Lago di Garlate, too.

Unfortunately, the official website of Parco Monte Barro and the majority of information (like the Monte Barro Wikipedia entry) available for the park are only in Italian.

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Related Articles at Ms. Adventures in Italy:

• New Additions to the Artigianale Basket for a Menu for Hope
• Expat GTG in Italy
• Sunset Aperitivo in Venice

Sorry for my lack of posts this week, I had what we call a una settimana tosta, a hard week. Or another way to say it, una settimana allucinante, an amazing week (not in a good way). Someday I’ll blog about it. Also, only two days until Nanowrimo – I haven’t done any pre-work that I am seeing other people do (plotting, etc.) but I will try to think about at least what I’m going to do on November 1st at 0:01. It’s not too late to join!

But in the meantime we’ve got company! My brother-in-law and his girlfriend are here with us for a few days. Since they’ve never been to Milan, we’ve got our “tour guide” hats on.

The weather was really nice the past few days, allowing us to walk around in light long sleeve shirts/tops. The cold is supposed to arrive this week (boo). There were tourists everywhere, and it was an active weekend for Milan, but at least this time I had my camera with me:

I saw this a few weeks ago but didn’t have my camera to blog about it – a photo show that’s literally on the streets, a part of the Grandi Mostri all’Aperto which takes place often on the Via Dante, that runs from Castello Sforzesco to the Duomo. This year’s is called Italia: Emozioni dal Cielo (Italy, Emotions from the Sky) and it will be there until December 27th and is worth seeing.

Last year’s show was called “Saggezze dell’Umanita‘” – Humanity’s Wisdom (my translation) and the photos were really amazing, also because it had some wonderful photos of people. This year’s is beautiful as well, but a little different as it’s pictures of Italy from above and not of their colorful inhabitants. It was interesting to see some places I hadn’t been to before and might want to check out!

From the tram I saw some colorful banners in Parco Sempione and as we neared Castello Sforzesco, we discovered there was a fair going on inside for the Capodanno Celtico – Celtic New Year.

There were many people in “period dress” and some more modern things like art booths and beer stands serving “grog” – I even saw some go as far as to pour the beer into their “drinking horns.” We listened to some good live music but we didn’t stick around for the joust on horseback.

Today we went to Como since it was a blindingly sunny day. There’s a rumor that Tom Cruise will get married at Villa d’Este on Lake Como in November, and today we had lunch a few feet from that beautiful villa in Cernobbio.

The sun was shining so it made a perfect rainbow on this fountain on the lake. I hope your weekend was just as nice!

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Related Articles at Ms. Adventures in Italy:

• Taking a Break in Rome’s Campagna
• Last Call for DMBLGIT – April 2008
• Roman Monuments: The Pantheon, Terme di Caracalla, St. Peter’s Basilica, The Roman Forum